Running regedit to my surprise shows a lot of old SW folders like 2004, 2005, 2006 etc which I removed from the system long ago. See the attached screen. Currently I am using 2008SP5.0 and 2009SP5.0 only. I came upon this doing a forum search since pack and go in 2009 shows wrong referencies.

In a first instance it shows the correct parts and assemblies but when I click the include drawings checkbox it lists part/assy's/drawings that belong to assemblies above the current one. (not opened though) No in contect relations or such.

There are lot of reg cleaner available and you can use them to clean/delete the unwanted files from the registry. For taking a back up of complete registry, those programs have the options. If you want to do that manually, them right click on the branch (for a specific branch) or my computer (for full reg backup) and select export. Then next pop up window will give you option to key in the name for the backup file and location preference.

And those SolidWorks old version folder name are there in the reg files as SW wasn't completely removed but rather upgraded.

Thanks for this. I use CCleaner regularly but appearantly it doesn't remove old folders. My concern is that the old folder content is still used somehow. Is it safe to rename the Solidworks folder to Solidworks old as suggested here?

Deepak, Mohamed, Daniel,

The solution that worked for me came from Daniel's word document.

Here is the description:

Solution:S-027029

Question:Why might SolidWorks freeze/hang when using Pack and Go?

Answer:This problem has been linked to problems in the system registry; to see if this is causing the problem please follow the steps below:

You'd be amazed at how many references get left in the registry. A registry cleaner like CCleaner by Piriform is a good start but I have yet to find a way to clean all the old references out of the registry. One weakness I've noticed in CCleaner is if a file gets moved it won't update the registry entry to the new location, it only deletes the invalid entry.

I go through the registry on a search and manually delete any SW/Simulation folders. Doesn't take too long once you know what you are looking for. I think there is also a macro SW VAR's will provide that does this. About time the SW uninstall got a bit smarter and did this properly for you. I also use CCleaner.

I'd be wary of doing it after the event, ie. after you have downloaded the new version of the software. Like you, I just poke and prod around and look through all the folders. There are a few folder names that are not immediately obvious and I cannot remember them off the top of my head. Think they are the Simulation folders.

I recently renamed a folder at the behest of the VAR. I'm going to delete it next time I do a major install. My understanding is that when you rename the folder the program automatically reinstalls all the registry stuff. Scary stuff really snooping through registry files. I'd really prefer not to.

Here's what I did: saved the SW settings first with the wizard. (I forgot this first and had to do the whole thing twice) Renamed the folder in the register and started both versions 2008 and 2009 back up again. This indeed creates a new branch in the register-tree with two fresh folders for 2008 and 2009 in it. Reloading the settings and everything works fine. Seem to start up faster as well. Pack and go also repaired.